China and Japan 1912-1945

China and Japan, 1912-45

  • There was a significant risk that Western powers (the USA and European nations) would seek to exploit China’s weakness to enhance their own economic and political influence in the region.
  • China’s inability to defend itself offered the possibility that Japan establish itself as the supreme power in Asia.
  • Japan had become involved in wars against China (1894-95) and Russia (1904-05) with the dual aim of protecting its own security whilst increasing its own regional power.
  • It had sought conquest in Taiwan (1894), South Manchuria (1905), and Korea (1910).
  • As Japan descended into military dictatorship in the 1930s, it once again embarked upon an aggressive foreign policy that would lead to conflict, first with China and subsequently with the Western powers.
  • China's collapse began in the middle of the 19th century, confronted with external challenges from the West and internal pressure from a series of large-scale rebellions.
  • Following the abdication of the last emperor, which ended a system of government, a newly formed republic resulted that was unable to prevent the ongoing disintegration of China into separate provinces.
  • Powerful warlords established unchallenged control.
  • Rival political groups emerged, with their desire to restore order and unity in China.
  • China was on the course of civil war.

4.1 What Were the Implications of the “Warlord Era” Which Affected China From 1916-27?

  • Issues facing China:
    • The Manchu dynasty (ruling family) gradually eroded in the 19th century.
    • Western powers, keen to exploit the trading opportunities which China offered, increasingly gained control over many of the Chinese provinces.
    • Defeat against Japan in the First Sino – Japanese War.
    • During the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), two foreign countries were fighting on Chinese territory for control of Manchuria. The Manchu government did nothing to prevent it or influence its outcome.
    • The Manchu government was also challenged by internal rebellions demanding reform and modernization.
    • Chinese traditional culture and customs were being undermined – schools offered western – style education. Hundreds of European books were translated into Chinese. Confucian ideas were abolished.
    • China also began a process of industrialization – factories established, coal mines, iron foundries, and cotton factories were established.
    • China was becoming Westernized – a process that was accompanied by increasing demands for reform.
    • Sun Yat –sen was one of the most influential figures in the growing campaign for reform in China. Dismayed by China’s backwardness and fragmentation, Sun became increasingly convinced that his country needed to adopt Western styles of democracy, agriculture, and industry.
    • Sun became part of a revolutionary group to overthrow the Manchu government, which failed.
    • Sun Yat – Sen:
      • Educated abroad and graduated as a doctor of medicine.
      • He became a professional revolutionary, touring Europe and the USA to raise funds for the Save China League.
      • He was in the USA when the revolution took place in 1911.
    • 1911, a revolution began amongst soldiers in Wuchang who were angry that the government paid compensation to the hated foreigners for the Boxer Rebellion.
    • As a result of the Revolution, most provinces declared themselves independent of the central government in Peking (Beijing).
    • Following the Wuchang uprisings, Sun Yat-sen returned to China, and the Revolutionary Alliance joined with other partners to form the Kuomintang.
    • He became the “provincial president” of the united Provinces of China.
    • Sun formally announced the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, with its government based in Nanking.
    • There was no constitution, and the treasury was empty. China was divided into north and south.
    • It seemed China might descend into a civil war. In order to avoid war, negotiations took place between Sun Yat –sen and Yuan Shih-kai.
    • Yuan arranged for the abdication of the emperor.
    • Yuan was declared president of the Republic of China, with a government based in Peking.
    • In an election following Yuan’s appointment as president, the KMT won the popular vote.
    • Yuan quickly established himself as a military dictator. He gradually assumed almost complete control of the government.
    • Yuan’s popularity was severely damaged when he was forced to accept Japan’s Twenty –One Demands in 1915.
    • These demands gave Japan considerable control over China’s affairs, and to many Chinese it appeared that Yuan’s government was just as weak as that of the Manchu dynasty in confronting foreign interference.
    • Yuan’s mistake: He issued an order canceling the republican form of government and proclaimed himself emperor of China. This led to widespread anger across the country. Revolutionary groups had no wish to see the restoration of a monarchy. Upon seeing the hopelessness of the situation, Yuan resigned and died shortly afterwards.
    • Denied a strong central government, and increasingly vulnerable to foreign intervention, China disintegrated into hundreds of small states, each controlled by a warlord and the private army at his command.
    • These warlords were more concerned with their own political powers than with China’s national interests.
    • They fought each other in bloody campaigns, each determined to gain wealth and prevent one warlord becoming more powerful than another.
    • They further divided into groups and temporary alliances that caused misery and hardship to China’s mainly peasant population.
    • It has been estimated that the total size of the various warlord armies grew from 500,000 in 1916 to over two million in 1928.
    • The main aim of the majority of warlords was to gain wealth and power. They increased taxes within the areas they dominated and seized control of profitable businesses. This provided the funds needed to pay their armies.
    • Although the government of Peking had little practical authority in China, it had access to foreign loans and customs revenue, a source of wealth.
    • As a result, various warlords fought for control over the government, leading to corruption, which further weakened the central government.
    • In 1917, Sun Yat –sen returned to China from his exile in Japan.
    • He formed the KMT government based on a constitution in Canton, in opposition to the government in Peking.
    • By 1918, the disintegration of China was complete.
      • The Peking government was weak and had limited authority in the country, which led to its inability to carry out vital social and economic reforms, warlord activity.
      • It led to China’s economic stagnation.
      • Political division of the country in the north- warlords were fighting for control of the Peking government, while in the south Sun Yat-sen had established a KMT government in Canton.
      • The warlords established their own laws and dictated the lives of ordinary Chinese people.

Reasons For and Impact of the May Fourth Movement

  • Reasons

    • Various problems faced China – chaos inflicted by the warlords
    • Many Chinese intellectuals and writers argued that reform was essential if China was to recover and survive.
    • Ideas put forward by the New Culture Movement were attractive to Chinese students.
    • By 1915, they were angered, formed a New Culture Movement which claimed that China’s weakness was caused by its outdated social, political, and religious traditions.
    • The movement suggested that the way to restore China’s unity and strength was to adopt Western values e.g.– democracy and individual liberty achievable through mass education and changing a culture that relied on a rigid class system and obedience to those in power.
    • What was the cause of student participation?
      • Students were attracted to the New Culture Movement. At Peking University, student publications (New Youth and New Tide) were heavily critical of traditional culture which they claimed had prevented the country from modernizing.
      • Why was modernization / adoption to Western country advocated?
        • to enable China to industrialize,
        • end foreign interference,
        • destroy unwelcome power of the warlords.
        • unify
    • Student concern
      • At the end of the conflict (WWI), the Chinese assumed that they would be able to reclaim the territories in Shantung Province that Germany had occupied since the late 19th century.
      • However, Chinese representatives were ignored at the Paris Peace Conference, which initially decided that German areas in Shantung should go to Japan.
      • What happened on May 4th, 1919?
        • 5000 students, from Peking University and other educational establishments, gathered in the streets of Peking- chanting nationalist slogans,

  • RADICAL STUDENTS AT PEKING UNIVERSITY DRAFTED A MANIFESTO OUTLINING THEIR AIMS

    • Japan’s demand for rights of Shantung Province is going to be agreed to by the Paris Peace Conference.
    • Japan’s diplomacy has secured a great victory, while ours has led to a great failure.
    • This is the last chance for China in its life and death struggle.
    • Today we swear two solemn oaths with all our fellow countrymen.
      • First, China’s territory may be conquered, but it cannot be given away.
      • Second, the Chinese people may be massacred but they will never surrender.
    • Our country is about to be annihilated. Up, brethren!
    • Manifesto: A written statement of the beliefs, aims, and policies of a person or group of people. Political parties, for example, publish manifestos prior to an election.
    • Fearful of the breakdown of law and order, the government dispersed the protesters and arrested 40 students.
    • However, the student demonstration in Peking rapidly spread.
    • What was the outcome/effect of the May Fourth Movement?
      • Initially appeared to have a positive impact.
      • The Paris Peace Conference accepted the views of the Chinese government and decided that control of Shantung Province should rest with China after all.
      • China’s national government lacked the power and authority required to enforce this decision.
      • Chinese warlords secretly made deals that gave Japan extensive rights in Shantung in exchange for financial support of their own territorial ambitions.

  • Outcome of the Movement cont’d

    • Nevertheless, despite the fact that the students’ protests appeared to achieve little at the time, many historians believe that the May Fourth Movement constituted an intellectual revolution that had a major impact on the future of China:

Reasons for the Growth of the Kuomintang Under Sun Yat-Sen

  • CCP lacked the size and influence required to bring about significant political change in China.

  • CCP joined the KMT (Sun Yat-Sen) for a larger membership and also advocating political change in China. Economic advantage, valuable assistance (financial & organizational) from Soviet Russia.

  • Russians helped to create a more efficient structure for the KMT across southern China & important in developing the KMT’s army – more effective fighting force.

  • Sun chose/ sent Chiang Kai- Shek to Moscow, to get military training.

  • Sun and Chiang had different backgrounds, characters, and political beliefs.

  • Aim of CCP: “to establish by revolutionary means a state of the working class in order to create a government and laws to put a stop to internal and external pillaging’.

  • Quickly established connections with and gained support from Soviet Russia.

  • A communist government was established in Russia following the 1917 revolution.

  • A Comintern (Communist International) was founded by the Russian government in March 1919 to encourage communist government elsewhere in the world.

  • Comintern viewed the revolutionary statement of Chinese intellectual – opportunity to spread communist ideology in Asia.

  • Sun Yat-Sen:

    • President of China in 1912, then head of the KMT administration in Guangzhou in 1923.
    • Symbol of Chinese nationalism
    • Developed Three Principles – its slogan
    • The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was established by Chen Duxiu, who had been actively involved in the May the Fourth Movement.

  • Sun:

    • Exposed to western methods of education and political ideas – democracy and political reform, revolutionary thinker/ philosopher, sharing many of the beliefs that led to the May the Fourth Movement.

  • Chiang:

    • Educated in China and Japan, steeped in Chinese traditions and culture, their preservation vital to the country’s resurgence, opposed fundamental changes in China’s social and political traditions.

  • Agreed on Three Principles:

The Three Principles

  1. Nationalism: for China to become a strong and unified country, respected abroad and without foreign interference; forge ahead with other nations towards the goal of ideal brotherhood.
  2. Democracy: for China to adopt a democratic system of government, in which the people could elect their leaders rather than being controlled by dynasties or warlords, to prepare people for democratic self-government, and an effective education system would be required.
  3. Social and economic reform: ending of China’s rigid class system and improved conditions for peasants and working classes. Argued that China

The Northern Expedition

  • Sun Yat-sen’s death in 192, led to division within the KMT and to a power struggle for leadership of the party.
  • Chiang Kai–shek (head of KMT armed forces National Revolutionary Army NRA) considered himself the obvious candidate.
  • However, communists held most of the strategically important posts within KMT & key roles in NRA, a clear threat to Chiang’s desire for leadership.
  • Chiang deployed the NRA to remove communists from positions within the KMT and declared himself leader.
  • KMT’s authority remained confined to Kwangtung Province
  • Warlords dominated the rest of China and their private armies.
  • However, KMT’s goal/ambition – to reunify China under a single government, in line with Sun’s First Principle (nationalism).
  • Action- to confront and defeat the warlords; Chiang’s 4-year plan (1922-1926)
  • How: He began the Northern Expedition, a military advance northward through China.
  • The KMT had defeated two warlord armies and gained control over all land in China south of the Yangtze River.
  • Major advantages over the warlords:
    1. 4- year detailed planning such as route to be taken, where best to confront the warlord armies
    2. Russian advisers helped to develop KMT military strength and political organization to be in better condition to retain control over areas taken from the warlords.
    3. Soviet – Stalin believed that a united China would be of benefit to the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic) –a friendship would end Soviet Union’s isolation
    4. NRA was extremely well organized and prepared for any encounters during the northward march.
    5. On the other hand, the warlord armies were largely disorganized and poorly equipped compared to the NRA.
    6. Designed to control & exploit the local people (e.g., peasants) who were defenseless, young soldiers who were mercenaries paid by the warlords, dispersed all over China when confronted by the NRA, some warlords allied their armies with the KMT.
    7. Ordinary Chinese people welcomed and supported the KMT forces because they were weary of the violence & exploitation incited by the warlords – wanted to restore and bring peace. Many Chinese people joined the KMT forces as they marched through southern China.
  • Division/ split between KMT members: Supporters of Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching –wei (traditionalist
  • Wang - shared dream of Sun Yat-sen to bring democracy and social reforms to China while Chiang was traditionalist – little interest in social reforms and opposed the political ideas of the communists.
  • Success of the Northern Expedition. Nevertheless, KMT forces continued to march and took control of Shanghai, Nanking, Peking etc.
  • Chiang -China now became unified
  • Chiang moved the center of govt. from Peking to Nanking – remained a KMT stronghold
  • Power appeared to be removed from the warlords
  • Checked the influence of the Communist Party
  • Became the political leader of China
  • Challenges/ Factors That Undermined KMT’s Control:
    • KMT authority was restricted to central and southern areas of China, northern areas remaining under warlord control (nominal control)
    • Warlord armies had not been destroyed, instead of dispersed and reformed armies & worked together in opposition to the KMT, some opposed Chiang’s leadership, and established a rival government in Peking (Central Plains War -1930)
    • Japan: The Northern Expedition brought the KMT into conflict with Japan, concerned that their success would have an adverse effect on Japanese interests in China.

Why Did Japan Become a Military Dictatorship in the 1930s and With What Consequences?

  • Reasons for Involvement in the Second World War
    • Ongoing concern about Japanese territorial expansion since the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. (the USA had its own interest in the Far East and the Pacific Ocean)
    • The USA imposed economic sanctions in 1940 (withdrawal of trade & financial relations with another country) but were restricted to military equipment such as aeroplanes.
    • USA extended economic sanctions in 1941 (USA attitude began to change when Japan extended its control over Indo-China in 1941). Japan denied vital American oil imports.
    • Japan’s plan for a “New Order” in east Asia to form a large trading bloc from which the Western Powers were to be excluded.
    • Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (in the Hawaiian islands) in Dec. 1941.
    • Aim – To destroy the American fleet
    • Successes and failures
    • Surprisingly, these Japanese ships went undetected by American patrol vessels or radar.
    • The American base seemed totally unprepared for a possible attack.
    • USA’s reaction: declaration of war

Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor: Two Questions

  • Why did Japan’s military leaders order such an attack when it would most certainly lead to war against the powerful USA? (a pre-emptive strike)
  • When the USA was aware of Japanese intentions to continue an expansionist policy in the Pacific region and the threat this posed to American interests, why was the naval base at Pearl Harbor totally unprepared for an attack?

How Effectively Did Chiang Kai – Shek Deal With the Communists in the Period 1927-1936?

  • The Shanghai Massacres and Extermination Campaigns
    • The success of the Northern Expedition owed much to the fact that the KMT had gained increasing support from peasants and factory workers, attracted by communist promise of land distribution and industrial cooperatives
    • Chiang opposed these measures and began to see the communist as an embarrassing ally.
    • Division
      • Chiang, leader of the KMT was threatened by Wang Ching –wei’s rival government in Wuhan whose supporters argued that Chiang was turning China into a military dictatorship under his personal control.
      • Conversely, Chiang claimed that Wang’s government had been infiltrated by communists and was determined to seize power through revolution and that would destroy Chinese traditions.
    • The Shanghai Massacres and Extermination Campaigns
      • Early 1927, the CCP, under the leadership of Chou Enlai (Zhou Enlai), organized a series of insurrections by industrial workers in Shanghai. (insurrection is an organized and violent attempt to overthrow those in a position of authority)
        • Result:
          • The local warlords had been defeated.
          • Communists gained control of Shanghai.
          • Chaing began the Purification Movement – a deliberate and calculated attempt to remove all communist influence within the KMT.
          • April 6, 1927 – Chiang ordered the closure of the CCP’s headquarters in Shangai
          • April 9, he declared martial law (imposition of direct military control over civilian affairs in response to a temporary emergency), claiming that this was to restore order by ending the violence and strikes that were adversely affecting Shanghai.
          • Chaing ordered KMT leaders in Shanghai to begin a purge of communists; the “Green Gang” (a group of gangsters, opium smugglers, and criminals, with KMT uniforms and weapons) contributed to the violent suppression of communist supporters in Shangai.
          • Chiang ordered the purge of communists (later referred to as the “White Terror) which spread beyond Shangai into other areas of China controlled by his forces, such as Changsha (Hunan Province) and Canton (Kwantung Province).
          • Outcome: Deaths – KMT govt. suggested 5,000, the CCP claimed 50, 000, independent sources – 12,000 communists were killed or disappeared in a three-week period, and almost 4,000 were killed in Shanghai alone.
          • Many communist leaders went into hiding, leaders hunted down and murdered as the extermination campaign continued.
          • There was an attempt by the communist to fight back.
          • By late summer, Chiang had established himself as the undisputed leader of the KMT; with the fall of Peking to KMT forces in 1928, Chiang declared himself the political and military leader of China.
          • China’s violent suppression of the CCP and its members resulted in the withdrawal of Russian support for the KMT.
          • KMT no longer had access to Russian political and military advisers who had helped to develop it as a political party and played a prominent role in facilitating the success of the Northern Expedition.
          • Denied Russian – supplied weapons and other military equipment, KMT was forced to spend vital financial resources purchasing them from elsewhere.
          • Purification Movement may have removed communists from membership of the KMT, but had not destroyed the CCP; became weak and confined to the isolated and mountainous regions, still existed.
          • Mao Zedong emerged as the leader of a communist army known as the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants.
          • Deeply opposed to the KMT, Mao and followers became enemy of Chiang Kai-shek.

The Long March 1934-35

  • In 1931, Mao helped to establish – and was elected chairman of the Soviet Republic of China.
  • Chiang carried out five “extermination campaigns’ against the CCP between 1930 – 1934.
  • Challenges:
    • Mao forced to fight the KMT armies – costly in terms of soldiers and money
    • Mao also faced opposition to his leadership of the Communist Party – his strategy of concentrating on gaining the support of the peasants rather than trying to gain influence in the industrial towns controlled by the KMT was not popular among fellow communists.
    • Mao’s supporters carried out a series of purges that claimed thousands of lives – estimated 10,000-70,000.
    • In Autumn, 1933, Chiang launched another attempt to destroy the CCP base in Kiangsi Province; is strategy was to surround and starve them into submission.
    • Outcome:
      • Within 12 months, the KMT seized over half of the territory controlled by the communist in 1933, killing 60,000 members of the Red Army.
      • CCP decided to launch a full-scale attack on KMT forces surrounding Kiangsi Province, which Mao opposed and was removed from the CCP’s leadership committee.
      • Mao suggested an attempt to break out and mount a surprise attack on the rear of the KMT’s forces.
      • Instead, the CCP leadership decided on a full-scale retreat from Kiangsi Province, with the aim at reaching Yenan (Hunan) in Shensi Province, (an area in northern China, not yet fallen under KMT control)
      • This retreat, now referred to as the Long March, began in Oct. 1934.
      • Around 90, 000 communists embarked on a journey (6,000 miles) that was to take 38 days.
      • Strategy: The communists were instructed to march in a straight line, making their movements easily predictable. Moreover, they were carrying items, such as furniture, which slowed down their progress and that were of no practical use under the circumstances. They were attacked by the KMT forces at Xiang.
      • Result: In the ensuing battle, the Red Army lost 45,000 men, over half of its fighting force.
      • The disaster was blamed on CCP’s leadership which was handed over to Mao in Jan. 1935.
  • Three tactical changes were made:
    • Unnecessary items discarded, moving more quickly
    • No marching in a straight line; progress in a manner less predictable
    • Split the Red Army into smaller units, making them far less to detect.
    • However, the KMT was not the only problem confronting the communists on their epic journey northwards:
      • The route took them across difficult terrain, including 18 mountain ranges, 24 rivers, and an area of deep marshes known as the Chinese Grassland.
      • In the mountainous regions near the border with Tibet, the marchers were attacked by Tibetans.
      • Between 10,000 and 20,000 survivors of the Long March reached Yenan in Shensi Province, an area that had not yet fallen under the control of the KMT.
      • This enabled Mao, by now the undisputed communist leader, to develop a safe base and gave him time to rebuild his depleted army.
      • At great cost in terms of human life and suffering, the Long March had enabled communism to survive in China.

The Xi’an Incident, 1936

  • Maintaining the continuous campaigns against the CCP was not the only issue facing Chiang Kai-shek as he attempted to secure his leadership on China in the 1930s.
  • Following the Twenty – One Demands, Japan had established considerable economic and political interests in China, particularly in Manchuria.
  • Japan’s determination to protect and extend interest posed another major threat to Chiang’s KMT government – Japanese troops stationed in Manchuria, increasingly concerned by Chiang’s attempt to reunify China, urged Japan to take full control of the area.
  • The government refused – the soldiers engineered a small explosion close to the Japanese –owned South Manchuria Railway line near the town of Mukden, claiming that it was a deliberate act anti-Japanese Chinese citizens.
  • For six months, Japanese took control over the whole of Manchuria, establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo (a state that is nominally independent but actually under the control of another state.
  • Japan legitimized its actions by installing the former Chinese Emperor Pu Yi as head of Manchuko; two years later formally declared Emperor of Manchuko.
  • Confronted by Japanese invasion of a part of its territory, Japan appealed to the LON, which instructed Japan to withdraw its forces; Japan refused to comply with the League’s instructions which China interpreted with a mixture of anger and fear; Japan had intended to extend its territory in China beyond Manchuria.
  • The Japanese government refused to accept that they should withdraw from Manchuria, withdrew from the League, exploiting the resources for the benefit of Japan’s economy.
  • China denied international support, had no option but to confront the Japanese threat alone.
  • Chiang decided to adopt a policy of non-resistance to the Japanese – Chiang was seeking to prepare China for the coming war against Japan by strengthening its defenses and buying armaments in Germany and the USA, but all had to be done secretly for the fear of provoking Japanese retaliation.
  • In Yenan, Mao skillfully played the patriotic card and argued that the KMT government was appeasing Japan and not defending China from Japanese aggression.
  • Consequently, Chiang could not openly refute Mao’s accusations, which increasingly won support both from Chinese patriots and Chiang’s enemies, the warlords.
  • Chiang, however, was convinced that he needed to eliminate the CCP before he confronted the Japanese.
  • Mao responded to this threat by advocating a united front composed of the KMT, CCP, and even the warlords against the Japanese, and was able to gain the support of the warlord of Shanxi, Yan Xishan, and Zhang Xueliang of Manchuria.
  • Both Yan and Zhang feared that if Chiang crushed the CCP, he would then be in a position finally to reduce their power by incorporating their armies into the Nationalist forces.
    • The Kidnapping of Chiang and its consequences
      • General Yang, commander of the KMT’s North-West Army, was impressed by Mao’s apparent patriotism, and suggested that plans were drawn up to kidnap Chiang when he visited Xian in December.
      • On Dec. 12, Chiang and all the KMT members accompanying him were rounded up and imprisoned.
      • Mao was delighted and demanded Chiang’s elimination’ and trial by a People’s Court (a special court set up to try ‘enemies’ of the people) but he was overruled by Stalin who believed that Chaing was the best man to lead China in a war against Japan.
      • Chiang was therefore released and instead a united front between the KMT and CCP was formed.
      • Chiang’s release and the creation of the united front were received with relief by many Chinese, who were convinced that the Japanese threat required national unity.
      • As a result of these negotiations, the Xi’an incident was settled peacefully. On Dec. 24th, Chiang agreed to cease his campaigns against the CCP and to collaborate with it in mounting resistance against the Japanese. This became known as the Second United Front.